


the talk

by genrose05



Series: the talk we never had before [1]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Angst, Guilt, Letters, Multi, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:34:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27183220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genrose05/pseuds/genrose05
Summary: Reggie reads a letter he wrote for his parents the night Sunset Curve was going to play at the Orpheum.
Series: the talk we never had before [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984243
Kudos: 37





	the talk

**Author's Note:**

> hiii this is dedicated to my bestie reggie!! ilysm<33

When Reggie finally found where his parents lived, the first thing he did was look at the house. This house looked different from his old house. The grass was overgrown and moss peeked out in the cracked wood of the porch. He always took care of that as a distraction from the hell that was his home life.

Some things never change. He stood on the driveway and could hear muffled shouts from the living room and he knew it wasn’t the tv. This was normal. The fights that Reggie heard were basically background music to him and if it was ever too quiet, it was like a new world. He was barely home when that happened.

The last time it was pleasant in his house was when he was eleven. It was Christmas dinner and they sat around the table, just the three of them. Reggie just got his first leather jacket and he wouldn’t keep it on even though the fireplace made the dining room warm. His mother and father conversed like no ounce of happiness has ever seeped through their skin and left. The dinner was home cooked by his father. It left a warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest whenever the thought came back to him.

It all went to shit the next day when his father was laid off and everything became about how they were going to pay to live. 

He took a deep breathe and braced himself to poof in. When he appeared at the front door, he took out his fingers from his ears and flinched at the sound.

They still argued about money. It has been so long since he died and yet, all they argued about was money.

“Please stop.” They couldn’t hear him, he knew that. Now was his chance to try and stop it because he could speak with them in the same room without being sent away to his room or out of the house. Yet, he could yell at the top of his lungs and they would still shout in each other's faces.

He wrote a letter the night of the show at the Orpheum. He was telling them he hoped they were proud of him and saying his goodbyes because after that night, he was leaving that house forever. It was crumpled up in his jacket and before he could tell the people in the ambulance about it, he was gone. It’s still here but now it’s in his hands.

He watched his parents with tear filled eyes and unraveled the paper with a sniffle.

“Hey, mom and dad. So as you know, I’m playing the Orpheum tonight, crazy right?” He looked up and shakily sighed.

“I was hoping you would want to come but I get that you’re busy and stuff with… work. I’m really nervous, like, if you can’t tell from my handwriting but I am shaking.”

He is shaking right now. 

“I’m moving out after tonight. I love you both but in between the band getting bigger and the fighting, I need to leave. Luke is letting me stay with him in his studio/shed thing. I got a pull out couch.” 

He remembers this whole plan Luke had with letting him stay. Alex already lived there and had a cot and since they were basically broke after paying for all the instruments, he had the couch and it didn't matter. All he knew was he would have a better home.

“Thank you for everything. This may be selfish to do…” He looked up to see his mom on the couch holding her temple and his dad pacing around the room shaking his head.

He wasn’t the selfish one, neither were they.

“I need to leave, I need a better life.” 

It was so much nicer in the studio with the boys. Alex, although he insulted Reggie a lot, knew how to make a dark situation lighter. Luke, well, Luke was himself and was very oblivious but it made living with him fun. 

Whenever they had practice, it felt like all the pieces of Reggie's fucked up puzzle came together.

“I love you both.”

His mother walked out of the room with a sigh and it was his dad's turn to lay on the couch. He looked distressed, worn out.

Reggie turned a table right next to him. There was a frame that stood out.

It was a picture of Reggie and his parents when they went to Disney World when he was seven. They looked normal, happy. Whatever they were now is not normal. 

“Make sure to take your NyQuil, ma. Don’t overwork yourself, dad.”

If only they could hear him...

“If I ever get famous and rich, I’ll give you money.” He laughed at that seeing he could’ve become the solution to their problem. 

“I’ll buy you a mansion and you’d never have to work again. You wouldn’t have to fight again.”

He crumpled the paper up again and poofed out before he couldn’t. If he could make them see him and hear him, he would. 

The paper slipped from his fingers and landed by the door. He didn’t care. Maybe they would find it and finally realize that this life isn’t worth fighting for.

The tears couldn’t come faster and his heart swelled. It was painful. It was like someone pierced his chest over and over until he became numb to all feelings. This hurt, big time. When he saw Luke crying at his house, Reggie didn’t think he would be able to understand his bandmate was in. Now that he is standing here, he knew he left on bad terms. His parents didn’t stop when he could have stopped them before he died. And now it’s too late…

The only ounce of joy he has right now when he is walking away from the house is that he got to talk to them even if they could not hear him. He got to say what he wanted to say years ago and all the guilt of sneaking out that night of the Orpheum faded away.

He said what he needed to say and he hopes that through some miracle that they got his message and this talk that he had would be the magic that helps them find who they used to be.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on twitter @ENBYSCARTERO


End file.
